Recommendation: What I Like to Read

[nebroadwe]

Slightly edited response to a meme-query here, but I spent so much time tracking down examples I thought I'd also post it in my own LJ for anyone who's interested in a few 'fic recs.

So snakecharmerfox asked:

What elements would you say that your favorite fanfics (that you've read, not written) have in common?

They're well-written, first off: graceful prose catches my eye; bland, rough, cliched or bletcherous writing usually has me skipping to the next possibility unless the story's characterization is engaging and/or its plotting inventive (I haven't seen anything yet that's managed to do either while sounding bletcherous, but you never know). I like stories with energy -- which doesn't necessarily mean action-adventure: there's energy in good characterization, in atmosphere, in an imaginative plot concept. Cleverness is another hook for me; I enjoy a tale that shows the author's mastery of working in the interstices or that ends with an unexpected twist. The adept use of circumstantial detail to build up character or setting is always a plus. I don't mind reading something that's already been done before, as long as it's done well -- but I love reading something that hasn't been done (particularly when it has the same ruthlessly logical development from premises to conclusions that the original story shows. Lovely!).

What kinds of stories/fic content would you like to see more of in the FMA fandom?

More plot-based gen-fic. Heck, more gen-fic, period, from drabbles to novels. I don't mind romance -- in fact, I'm a sucker for character-based het and old-school courtship-fic, a la Georgette Heyer. But erotica qua erotica makes me uncomfortable (TMI) and PWP I find distasteful. Besides, there's a lot of het/yaoi/yuri out there already, some of it quite repetitive. How about striking out into less well-charted waters?

What would you say were the most important contributing factors (aside from reader comments) in the development of your writing style?

Hmm. Commenting on other people's work, I guess: that makes me more conscious of what I think good writing looks like, so that when I sit down to produce my own stuff, I try to play by my own rules. (Which is only fair. :-)

Comments

[hieronymousb.livejournal.com]

Have you read He Who Searches for Himself by Yuuki Hikari? It sounds like something you would like. It's a plot-based gen-fic which is, I think, upwards of 200,000 words. Yuuki put a lot of research into the historical details of the fic, so anyone who likes such details would probably appreciate it. I've heard that the grammar can be somewhat rough at times (I haven't read the whole thing), but it looked more or less fine to me at a glance. Nothing I saw seemed horrible.

http://www.fanfiction.net/~yuukihikari

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Have you read He Who Searches for Himself by Yuuki Hikari?

No, although I've seen it recommended before. I'll have a look. [looks] Hmm. The opening lines raise my hackles a millimeter or so ("her narrowed expression locked in a disapproving frown", eep; and the comma-spliced "Alphonse laughed lightly, a thought crossed his mind", which happens to use "lightly" in a way that I find ... unpersuasive -- why not "briefly" or "quietly"?), but not enough to turn me off at once. I'll peruse it further and report back if time permits.

[hieronymousb.livejournal.com]

Yep, I was warned that the grammar was rough (although I only gave it a cursory glance before filing it away in my "I'll possibly read this...sometime" list, but a lot of people seem to love it for the historical details, so I thought perhaps you'd like that aspect.

[hieronymousb.livejournal.com]

*list)

Speaking of bad grammar, oops. X__x